Letters of Love
by minixoxmya
Summary: It really is true what that say...actions speak louder than words. For the third theme of the ZAAngels write off 'actions speak louder than words'.


Letters of Love 

**This is my entry for the third ZAAngels write off theme 'actions speak louder than words'. It's very cute and very sweet so I hope you enjoy it!**

~TG~

Life: An undetermined period of time between birth and death. At birth, life is a clean slate with a wealth of opportunities ahead. At death, life was what you made of it.

For twenty three year old Gabriella Montez, life so far had been nothing like she had imagined. She had always thought of herself as a realistic thinker, never expecting too much and never being disappointed. She had imagined she would be living in a big house, with a loving husband and a couple of children running around…a picture she had never considered to be far out.

Instead; she found herself squeezed into a tiny apartment in the middle of New York City, struggling through life with as much as she could pull together from the two jobs she worked.

Her life had taken a dramatic turn when she had met the man of her dreams; US Marine Troy Bolton, five years her senior with all the charm and handsomeness of the picture perfect American man. At eighteen years old, it hadn't taken much for Troy to charm her away from her home in sunny California to not so sunny New York.

Gabriella Montez wasn't your average girl; she had graduated with the highest GPA in the state of California and had an incredibly bright future ahead of her. She had been approached by Harvard medical, Stanford law and Syracuse law, who were all keen to have her in attendance at their classes.

Her mind had been set, she had accepted to Stanford pre-law and was set to become one of California's top lawyers…that was until the summer of 2008, just after she graduated high school, when Troy Bolton waltzed into her life.

Stationed in San Francisco following a mission in the pacific, the moment that Troy Bolton set his eyes on Gabriella Montez, he knew she was the girl for him.

Six months into their strong relationship, Troy was redeployed to a Naval Base just outside of New York City. Without hesitation, Gabriella had agreed to move her life across the country with Troy. She had all the intention of transferring to NYU but life seemed to overtake her and five years later, she was yet to complete her studies.

Her parents had disowned her, her three sisters were hurt that she had turned her back of their family, and the life that she was used to was used to. With a minimal combined salary, Troy and Gabriella moved into a small apartment in a rundown area of downtown New York City.

The apartment was smaller than small, while the kitchen was beautiful, the rest of the rooms were well below the standard Gabriella was used to. The neighborhood was a hotspot for crime; drugs were dealt on most street corners, prostitutes wondered the streets and the noise of police cars was a regular occurrence. Troy had been reluctant to move in, he was very protective of Gabriella and the thought of her being alone in that apartment instilled fear within him. But Gabriella had done the math; she had shown him their monthly income on paper and explained to him there was no way they could afford anything better.

They had made the apartment as nice as they could; decorating it to their tastes and installing some home comforts that helped them forget the rundown building and the dangerous neighborhood outside their secured windows.

Even with their struggles life had become blissful, Troy worked hard five days a week and Gabriella worked two jobs to ensure they would keep up with their rent. By day, she was an assistant at a local daycare and by night, she worked hard in a local restaurant as a hostess.

They spent precious few moments together, but what moments they could share were always made special. It didn't matter how much they worked or how hard it was to pay the bills, because they knew at the end of the day they would be coming home to each other.

However, one cold cloudy fall morning a letter arrived in the mailbox that was to change their world forever. Up until that day, Troy had not been called up to serve overseas, but as soon as Gabriella saw the military printed letter addressed to Troy, she knew what it contained.

When Troy had returned home and opened the letter, Gabriella's worst fears had been confirmed. Troy had been called up to serve on a brand new military warship that would once again take him deep out onto the Pacific Ocean.

He would be leaving Gabriella alone in their small dangerous apartment for eleven months, with no definite promise of ever returning home. Gabriella understood that his job was dangerous, but the stress of not knowing if he would ever return was something she wasn't sure she would be able to cope with.

Leaving day was beyond difficult. Gabriella dutifully flew with Troy to Portland Oregon, struggling to keep her composure as they said their goodbyes.

"I love you so much." Troy had whispered quietly into Gabriella's ear, "I swear to you in eleven months I'll be home and when I am, I'll make you my wife." Gabriella's tear spilled from her eyes as she listened to Troy's promise, she hoped with everything she had that he would return safe and sound and in one piece.

She told him she loved him and kissed him one last time before Troy joined his fellow Marines and boarded the ship that would become home.

As she wondered back to the car that would take her to the airport and back to New York, she wasn't sure who to turn to. She no longer had a family, she didn't have any real friends and Troy's parents lived comfortably in Arizona, only communicating when they needed or wanted something.

The journey home seemed to take a lifetime and by the time she turned the key in the lock of the small apartment, she was completely exhausted.

As she opened the door she smiled softly; sat waiting patiently for her to return was their two year old lazy English bulldog, Buster. Troy had purchased Buster as a puppy in the hope that he could protect Gabriella through the times that he was away from home, but it turned out Buster liked nothing more than curling up on the cough and sleeping.

"Hey Buster, it's just me and you for a while now." Gabriella spoke softly as she knelt down and kissed Buster's soft head, giggling as he rubbed his slobbery face on her affectionately.

While Troy's original plan of having Buster as a guard dog failed miserably, Buster had provided Gabriella with some company and someone to rant to…after all, Buster was a fantastic listener.

"Come on slobber mouth, let's go to bed." Gabriella sighed as she ushered Buster towards the master bedroom. He was usually banished to the living room, Troy had insisted he couldn't perform with a third pair of eyes watching him, but when he was away Buster had full access to the large comfortable bedroom.

As she snuggled down into their large bed, comforted by Buster's loud snoring, she sighed again…it was going to be a long eleven months.

~TG~

Monday morning brought a rare day off for Gabriella; while she was pleased that she could relax, she figured working would have taken her mind of missing Troy. She hadn't slept well, she had tossed and turned all night worrying if Troy was safe and what Troy was doing.

She had decided that today would be a pajamas day, laid on the couch watching movies with her warm duvet and snuggling with Buster.

Lifting herself slowly off the comfortable bed, she wondered over towards the closet and opened the door thoughtfully. She pulled a clean pair of pajamas from the shelf, opening them out and frowning as a small piece of paper floated to the floor.

Buster came waddling over as Gabriella bent down to the paper; she pondered to herself, perhaps she had left the receipt tucked inside the clothes when she brought them. Gently she picked up the paper and unfolded it, slowly reading the words that were printed neatly in Troy's cursive handwriting.

_You look beautiful today. _

The simple note brought tears to Gabriella's eyes. How had Troy known that she would find the note? Her mind was blank to answers but the comforting sound of his voice whispering the message to her eased the pain of missing him the way she did.

As she wondered through the apartment towards the living room, she kept the note clutched tightly in her hand, it was her only strong connection to Troy she had and she was going to guard it with her life.

~TG~

Tuesday morning meant forcing herself out of bed to get ready for her long day at work. With Buster all set up for the day, Gabriella wondered into the kitchen and opened up the cupboard, seeking the mug that she always took to work with her. As she lifted it out of the cupboard, another small piece of paper fell onto the wooden countertop. Frowning; she picked it up and unfolded it slowly, Troy couldn't have possibly had time to write another note and hide it without her noticing.

_Have a good day at work Beautiful, I love you._

Gabriella closed her eyes and took a deep breath; holding the note tightly to her chest, she remembered the feel of Troy's arms around her waist as he kissed her goodbye before they each left for work.

Folding up the note again; she slipped it into her purse securely with the previous note, it comforted her to know that with them in her purse, she had a small piece of Troy with her all day.

Thankfully for Gabriella, the day didn't drag on and she was able to rush home and make herself look pretty before Troy's scheduled calling time.

As she sat in front of the laptop nervously, she wondered how she would cope seeing him without being able to cuddle with him like she so desperately wanted to. As his face popped up on the screen she quickly accepted the call and smiled as he appeared on screen, looking incredibly handsome in his uniform.

"Hey Handsome!" Gabriella giggled as a huge smile spread across her face, it was moments like this that made her realized just how right Troy was for her, and how lucky she was to have found the one so young.

Troy smiled and winked at her, adjusting himself in his seat comfortably as he took a few minutes to just look at her and observe her beauty.

"_How are you, Beautiful?" _This was a nickname that Gabriella had acquired very soon after they began dating, he had used it once and it seemed to have stuck forever, something Gabriella was not at all disappointed about.

She loved it when he told her she was beautiful, despite how often he used it, it never failed to make her feel special and loved.

"I'm okay, we miss you! Although Buster thinks he's won the lottery, he slept in bed with me last night and looked more than comfortable, so he might not miss you as much as I do." Troy chuckled at Gabriella's comments, imagining the picture Gabriella had painted for him in his mind and chuckling again at the thought of their dog snuggling down into the covers.

If he was honest, he missed Gabriella more than he had imagined he would. She had become his whole world, and without her he wasn't entirely sure what to do. Before Gabriella he had always lived for work, but after Gabriella it seemed that he had grown to live for her.

"_As long as he's taking care of you! Everything has gone fine here so far, nothing exciting has happened at all!" _Troy sounded almost disappointed as he spoke of his mission so far, Gabriella could understand his frustrations, and it couldn't be easy living in such a small space with so many other people with little or no work needing to be done.

Gabriella sighed; at least nothing exciting meant that there was little room for anything that could potentially be causing Troy danger…that thought settled her mind.

"I got you're notes, that was really sweet of you." Gabriella spoke sweetly, smiling as Troy's face lit up with a huge grin; he had always taken pleasure from making her happy.

"_I just wanted the first couple of days without me to be a little easier." _Troy was glad that his plan had worked; he had stealthily snuck out of bed at two in the morning to sneak the notes into places that he knew Gabriella would find them. He was surprised that she hadn't found them before the intended times, but evidently she was just as predictable as he thought.

"You're amazing, I love you so much!" Gabriella whispered as she fought tears, trying her best to keep it together because she knew tears would worry Troy and that was the last thing he needed.

Troy sighed, he missed her so much and wanted nothing more to be able to hold her tightly in his arms and never let her go, but for ten and a half more months, webcam would have to suffice. He hoped with everything that he had that the time would pass quickly.

"_I love you too, more than you know! Hey listen, I've got to shoot off but can I call you again day after tomorrow? We can make it a regular thing, every other day?" _Troy suggested, hoping Gabriella would accept his suggestion despite the fact that it meant restricting what she did in order to be around to talk to him.

Gabriella didn't even have to think; she nodded quickly and enthusiastically agreed, like she had any friends to arrange plans with anyway. Even if she did, she was sure that Troy would take priority over any plans she made.

"Please look after yourself, I love you!" Gabriella said again, making sure that Troy knew it before blowing him a kiss and waving as he returned the sentiment and ended the call. She felt empty when he was gone, her world was effectively silent without him and she had no idea how she would survive on just a few minutes every other day.

Buster barked gruffly, forcing Gabriella to look away from the blank computer screen and towards where he was lazily sat beside the couch.

"Alright Buster, just because all the attention wasn't on you doesn't mean you have to make a fuss about it!" Gabriella giggled as she made her way over to the dog, sitting down on the couch and patting her lap for him to come up and sit with her.

As he jumped up on the couch a small piece of paper brushed her foot, another note? She wondered to herself, but how had she not seen a note that was right there on the floor? Buster had been lying in the same spot, evidently hiding the note, for the past hour but that didn't explain the previous hours when it had been seemingly unhidden.

_It was amazing seeing you today; I can't wait to be home with you._

This was just getting spooky, how on earth had Troy left these notes with no idea of when or in what order she would find them. Each of the three notes had made perfect sense, yet they had all been left days previously when no context or setting.

Shrugging it off she let sleep begin to overcome her body, she would think of answers to all of her questions tomorrow, but her warm comfortable bed, that just happened to smell like Troy, was calling her name.

~TG~

Three months had passed quickly, the every other day webcam calls had kept up…as had the notes that seemed to be strategically placed around the apartment.

Gabriella had found eighteen little notes so far and she was beginning to wonder how many more were placed around the apartment. She had gathered them all together in her purse, but she was quickly realizing that she would need somewhere safer to keep them.

She treasured the notes, much like anybody else would treasure gold, so she brought a small fireproof safe and placed the notes delicately in an envelope and placed them securely inside the safe.

As she put each note away she opened it carefully and read it, remembering the feeling of love and excitement that she had felt when she had first found each note. She read them over and over again, feeling a little bit closer to Troy with every note that she read.

'_You look amazing in this dress!' _Troy had attached this one to the wash label of Gabriella's favorite dress.

'_You look amazing just the way you are.' _This note had been placed underneath the bathroom scales.

'_You are the reason I wake up in the morning.' _Gabriella found this note in Troy's nightstand draw; she had been searching for a pair of nail scissors when she stumbled upon the small folded note.

'_You always look amazing in this dress.' _Troy had clipped this note to the wash label of his favorite dress in Gabriella's closet.

'_I can't wait for the day your mail is addressed to Gabriella Bolton.' _Unsurprisingly, this note had been hidden in the depths of their mailbox just waiting to be found by Gabriella as she retrieved their mail.

'_I can't wait to be home to cuddle in bed with you.' _This note had been clipped to fresh linen in the closet. When Gabriella had unfolded the fresh sheet for their bed, she spotted the small note paper clipped to the edge.

'_One day you will achieve your dream.' _This note had been secretly placed deep inside one of Gabriella's law textbooks. Troy knew how much Gabriella had given up to be with him and he was determined to make sure that one day, she would be the lawyer she had always dreamed of being.

The notes continued coming as the weeks and months passed by, everyday Gabriella became more amazed at how Troy had managed to hide so many in the small apartment without her noticing.

Before she knew it, Christmas had been and gone and New York was finally coming out of the long cold winter and was making its way into spring. Snow had melted away and the flowers that were finally starting to flourish reminded Gabriella that in just a few weeks Troy would finally be home.

May eleventh was Gabriella's twenty fourth birthday; while Christmas had been difficult, this day seemed even harder to manage. Over the past five year, Troy and Gabriella had established a solid birthday routine; it would start with breakfast in bed, followed by a short walk in central park, they would have lunch at their favorite café and the day would end with dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant.

Today there would be no breakfast in bed, no walk in central park, no lunch at the café and no dinner at Carlucci's. Gabriella sighed as she woke up, Buster snuggling into her side as sleep began to disappear from her body.

"Happy birthday to me," Gabriella spoke to herself quietly, looking down at Buster's confused face. Gabriella had no expectation that she would receive anything from her family; since her relationship with Troy became serious they had barely even acknowledged her existence.

Her mother and father had been disappointed in her, they had worked hard to give her the best education and they felt that she had let them down by giving it all up for Troy. Her older sister, Natalia, had been in agreement with her parents and had not spoken a word to Gabriella since she left for New York. Her two younger sisters, Arianna and Alexa, had secretly encouraged Gabriella to follow Troy to New York, and tried as hard as they could to contact her in secret as often as possible.

As she pulled herself out of bed and strolled down the hall to the living room she was unsure what she wanted to eat for breakfast, Troy usually made her French toast but her skills in making the delicious sugary delight were severely lacking.

Deciding to skip breakfast all together she threw on some shoes and wondered down to the mailbox, Buster following closely behind her. Opening the box, all she expected was junk, but what she actually found puzzled her. Inside the box were four cards, a small gift box and a foil wrapped package.

She returned to the apartment, holding onto the mail tightly and wondering where on earth the box and package had come from….or even how the mailman had got them in the box.

Deciding to open the foil package first she gently undid the tightly wrapped package, inside she was greeted with two warm pieces of French toast. 'This must have had something to do with Troy,' she thought to her, nobody else knew about their birthday morning routine.

She decided that the cards had to be next, as she munched on the delicious French toast; she opened up the first card…postmarked California.

'_Dear Gabriella,_

_Happy Birthday! We hope you have a great day!_

_We miss you so much!_

_Ari and Lexi'_

Gabriella smiled, her sneaky younger sisters had managed to evade their overbearing parents and send her birthday card.

The next had a postmark she didn't recognize, she wasn't sure where it had come from so she opened it up carefully.

'_Gabriella,_

_Happy Birthday_

_Lucille and Jack'_

Gabriella was impressed that Troy's parents had remembered her birthday. While they were lovely amazing people, they were completely absorbed in their lives in Arizona and paid very little attention to what was happening in Troy's life.

With two cards left to go, Gabriella was completely stumped on who they could be from. She decided to leave the large one to last, curious to see what was inside that was making it so heavy. She proceeded to open the smaller third one with curious anticipation.

'_Gabriella_

_Troy called us last week and reminded us it was your birthday. _

_Mum and Dad'_

Gabriella was puzzled; this was the first birthday in forever that she had received a card from her parents, yet this one didn't say happy birthday nor did it send any love…it merely told her that her boyfriend had called her parents to prompt them to wish her happy birthday.

Discarding the small card, she picked up the next envelope and shook it gently. It was large A4 sized and appeared to contain large amounts of documents. Gabriella was sure that this couldn't possibly have anything to do with her birthday, so she opened it slowly and pulled out the contents.

Stuck on a blank piece of paper covering the letters was another one of Troy's now famous notes.

'_I've been saving…it's time for you to follow your dreams.'_

Gabriella frowned, she had no idea what was waiting for her behind the blank paper and she wasn't even sure she wanted to know. She unclipped the paperclip from the blank page and slowly read the words on the page underneath, her eyes widening in shock as the words sunk into her mind.

'_Dear Gabriella Montez,_

_After reviewing the impressive transcripts that you sent us, we would like to inform you that you have been accepted into NYU Law. _

_Please complete this application form and send it along with the required information detailed on the application form. _

_Congratulations and we look forward to welcoming you in the fall.'_

She didn't bother to read the name of who it was from, the NYU printed paper and the words 'accepted' and 'NYU law' were enough to send her blood pressure souring. She had never sent an application, had Troy done this? Had he copied her transcripts and sent them in for her? Her logical mind question how on earth they would manage if she was in school full time, but the rest of her brain was climbing the walls with excitements.

A knock at the door broke her from her excited trance, she wasn't expecting visitors and the lack of peephole in the door meant she just had to assume whoever was breaking her excited time would be worth the time.

As she opened the door and took in the person standing behind it, the color drained from her body and dizziness began to overtake her.

"Hey Beautiful," the handsome blue eyed man spoke smoothly; he was wearing full military uniform and had a large bunch of red roses in his hand.

Gabriella couldn't believe her eyes, she hadn't expected Troy to be home for another two months and he hadn't said anything about coming home early when they had spoken only days previously.

Suddenly everything made sense; the French toast, the birthday card from her parents and the letter from NYU…Troy had done all of this. Without a second thought she leapt into Troy's arms, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"I can't believe you're home!" Gabriella whispered into his neck, not moving as Troy moved them into the apartment and closed the door, giving them privacy from any prying eyes that might have been lurking around in the corridors.

Gabriella couldn't count the number of times Troy had told her he loved her, but none of those words were comparable to the events of the nine months. Every little note, every kept promise and ever gesture made were worth a thousand words.

There was no doubt in Gabriella's mind as she stood the wrapped in Troy's tight, safe embrace…actions will always speak louder than words.

**The end**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to vote when the poll opens at ZAAngels write off page! **


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